Here’s my post-mortem of the day: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama did not give an absolute perfect performance on opposing the FISA Amendments Act, the law that allows the government to use the power of electronic networks to spy against your private communications without any explanation to anyone. I would have liked to have seen them both sacrificing one day of campaigning to stand up for what’s right. Obama worked at it for many hours, but then cut out to get ready for his speech. So, there’s a little bit of a difference with Clinton in that regard, given that she didn’t show up at all.
That said, Look at what John McCain did.
John McCain not only voted for the FISA Amendments Act. McCain voted to kill every single amendment to the bill that would have made it more reasonable. McCain voted, over and over again today, for nothing less than absolute power for the President of the United States. Having made those votes, John McCain is back this evening to telling America that he wants to be that President with all that power.
No matter how much I might critique the form of the opposition that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama gave to the FISA Amendments Act, the fact is that they both have done some work to oppose it. That is a categorical difference in attitude from what we see in John McCain.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both say that they want to be President, but say that the powers of the President must be limited. John McCain says that he wants to be President, and is working to make the powers of the presidency unlimited. That makes Obama and Clinton both much more trustworthy with the power of the presidency.
What John McCain did today ought to send chills down the spine of every thinking American, Democrat, Republican, third party and independent.
I don’t speak for anyone else here at Irregular Times but myself when I say this. I have qualms about both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I believe that whichever one of them is elected as President will have to be watched, steadfastly pressured and openly opposed by progressive activists at times. However, if Hillary Clinton is nominated by the Democrats to be President, I will vote for her rather than McCain. If Barack Obama is nominated by the Democrats to be President, I will vote for him rather than McCain.
My concern is McCain. No one who suggests that keeping American troops in Iraq for ten thousand years is an okay idea, who voted for torture with the Military Commissions Act, and who voted to give the President absolute spying power under the FISA Amendments Act today, should ever be given the power of the Oval Office.
The hope for a restoration of American liberty now depends upon John McCain not being elected President. I am not certain that Obama or Clinton will work effectively to restore our freedom, but I know that John McCain will not.
For those Democratic Party loyalists who are cheering at reading this resounding support of a Democratic presidential ticket, let me offer this sobering reminder: There were eighteen Democrats in the Senate who voted to give absolute power to George W. Bush today. They have all relinquished the right to progressive Democrat support. More than that, they have all earned vigorous opposition by progressive Democrats.
I’m naming names. The following are the Democrats in the Senate who broke their oath of office and betrayed America’s freedom today:
Max Baucus of Montana
Evan Bayh of Indiana
Tom Carper of Delaware
Bob Casey of Pennsylvania
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Tim Johnson of South Dakota
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin
Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
Claire McCaskill of Missouri
Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
Bill Nelson of Florida
Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Mark Pryor of Arkansas
John Rockefeller of West Virginia
Ken Salazar of Colorado
James Webb of Virginia
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island
I will not support a single one of these senators for re-election. More than that, I dedicate myself tonight to doing what I can to ensure that not one of this despicable bunch has another term in the Senate.
If one of these senators is from your state, I urge you to take action. Call up the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and tell them what you think of their participation the Republican right wing attack against the Constitution of the United States of America. That’s a good start.
Step two: Call ten friends who live in your state and tell them what your senator has done.
Step three: Go over to the Politics1 state directory of political candidates. See if a senator from the list above is up for re-election this year. See if there is a primary election challenger, and if there is, find out how to support that rival.
Step four: No money for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. They helped put in these right wing turkeys in the first place. Send their requests for money back empty, with a note on the envelope that reads “I remember the FISA Amendments Act”. From now on, support only goes to those Democrats in the Senate who deserve it. Period.
It’s time to get tough, on John McCain and the Democrats who voted with him.
The paragraph about what McCain voted for needs an edit–it doesn’t parse at all. Or better yet, post a link to the record.
I, too, was heavily disheartened to see Democrat Senators vote against critically important amendments proposed for the Senate FISA bill. And after listening to Conn. Sen. Chris Dodd speak fervently in favor of the amendments, and lay out the history of the bill and the complete lack of necessity for granting retroactive immunity to the telecomms who readily handed over info on millions of Americans, I regret that his presidential campaign did not fair better — now, that was truly inspirational.
Nevertheless, when casting my 12th presidential vote this November, and after steadfastly voting Democrat for the past 36 years, I will consider voting for McCain if Obama is the candidate. Here’s why.
I think that in all probability, Obama will get eaten alive by the Republicans for his lack of experience. But even if that is not the case, I don’t think I can vote to put the fate of the world in his way-too-inexperienced hands.
There are way too many critical issues that the next President will confront, perhaps the most important was one discussed the other night on Fox news (of all places – I’m not a Fox fan, but this particular discussion was very informative.) The issue was getting China and India on board for environmental measures; global environmental risk, the commentators noted, is one that we have simply just about run out of time on. It’s now or never.
To me it’s clear: we don’t have time to cover Obama’s learning curve. We don’t have time to sit around and feel warm and fuzzy about vague notions of “hope†and “change.†We can’t afford to indulge whiny 20 and 30-somethings who just want someone with a last name other than Clinton or Bush (the latter is, of course, irrelevant).
Planet earth, and its inhabitants, must address environmental issues IMMEDIATELY. It seems to me that the only two candidates equipped to rise to this occasion are Hillary and McCain. And if Obama is the Democratic candidate, this Democrat, who has only voted Republican once (for the late Rockefeller-Republican Sen. Chase (D-NJ) in 36 years, will serious contemplate voting for McCain. It’s not a tempting choice, but it may be the only choice I can make with a good conscience, if Obama is my alternative.
Well, “Jerseydem” – with an IP address from Reston, Virginia – that was the most two-faced response I could imagine.
You get done bemoaning the fact that so many Democrats voted for this package of terrifying totalitarian spying powers, and then you switch around to say that you’re supporting for President the very man who worked all day long to make sure that not a single attempt to reform the law and protect freedom would pass, and voted for the law in the end.
Why do you do this? Apparently, you think that throwing away our freedoms is okay, so long as it’s good for the environment.
You know what? It won’t be good for the environment.
John McCain has been a failure as an environmental leader. What global warming bill has he gotten passed in all his years in the Senate? None.
Furthermore, John McCain’s environmentalism has been too weak, too late, accomodating corporate desires to keep on polluting just like they have been – voluntary reductions and that sort of nonsense. John McCain is as environmentalist as an oil industry spokesman, with lots of green talk covering a corporate agenda, and a do-nothing.
You use experience as an excuse? This line of reasoning would have led you to vote for Stephen Douglas instead of Abraham Lincoln. You know what? I bet you would have.
Practically, John McCain is antienvironmentalist. He supports anti-environmental Republican politicians. He has supported the Iraq War from the start – said it would be easy – and now says that keeping the soldiers in Iraq for 100 years or 10,000 years is something he would be comfortable with. That Iraq War is draining our economy of exactly the resources that we need to wage a green economic revolution here at home.
But I think you know all this, “jerseydem”. From what I’ve seen of you, you’re just terrified of Barack Obama.
Why are you so terrified of Barack Obama? Here’s what you wrote a while ago: “Are Caucasian Americans really ready to vote for a Black/minority president?”
The election so far shows that yes, most “Caucasian Americans” really are ready. Why aren’t you?
You can’t come up with a single reason that Barack Obama is NOT going to be able to deal with environmental issues except that he’s younger than Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Let’s see you bring up some substance.
You know what we’re seeing in our bumper sticker sales in the last week? We’re seeing a rush of people who feel exactly the opposite of the way that you do. Republicans who would rather vote for Barack Obama than John McCain. We’re selling a lot of bumper stickers reading “Republicans Against McCain” and “Republicans for Obama”.
How would you know if people want to vote for McCain? Where are your McCain bumper stickers and how are they selling?
I think you know very well that jerseydem said nothing about either Obama’s race or his age. You just made that up. You’re still drinking the Obama koolaid.
Jerseydem did bring up Obama’s lack of experience, his probable learning curve once in office, and his dependence on vague idealism instead of solid public policy in his speeches and debates.
Oh, and have you checked your own IP lately, “jClifford in New York”? Yup. Reston, Virginia.